Page 69 of Wrangled Love

Walker laughs. “That’s what I told him!”

I shoot him a mock glare, running a hand along my jaw. “Oh please. You’ve both dated women younger than Briar, and I haven’t given either of you grief about it.”

“It’s different when it’s our sister we’re talking about,” Heath points out.

“Convenient,” I mutter to myself. “We’ve decided not to see other people the rest of the summer. If you’ve got a problem with us being together, you’ll have to take it up with her because I’m not changing my mind.”

I keep my hands at my side, bracing for Heath’s anger, but he surprises me when he shrugs.

“Alright, I can live with that.”

I furrow my brow. “That’s it?”

“The guys at the coffee shop filled me in on the details of what went down the night of her date. You protected her from that jackass lawyer, and I appreciate it. Although if I’d been there, he would’ve left with a black eye.”

“I didn’t do it for you.”

“Exactly.” He moves forward, clapping me on the back. “You’ve got Briar’s best interests at heart, which means you care.”

“So, you’re not mad?”

He wrinkles his nose. “It isn’t my business what goes on behind closed doors. Briar’s got a good head on her shoulders, and if she’s set on you, I’ll respect it. But if you so much as make her cry, you’ll be answering to us both,” he says, jerking his chin toward Walker.

“Damn straight,” Walker adds with his arms folded across his chest.

“I’d never hurt her…” I trail off as Briar lets out a string of muffled curses from the kitchen. “I better go see if she needs help wranglin’ the stove. It’s been on the fritz lately.”

As I turn toward the kitchen, I catch Walker leaning over to Heath and whispering, “There’s no way he leaves after the summer.”

I’ve thought about how difficult going back to New York will be, but until now, I haven’t entertained the thought of making Bluebell our permanent home. The city is where the business I built from the ground up is, and I’m not sure I could give that up. Not when it provides the security and stability I lacked growing up.

Not to mention, Caleb starts kindergarten in the fall. I managed to get him into a highly sought-after private school with a top-tier early education program. The director of the board is a client of mine, and he owed me a favor for helping him with an emergency project a few months ago.

A nagging thought has me wondering if moving back to the city is the best thing for Caleb, but I dismiss it for now.

As soon as I’m out of view, I hear Heath’s voice carry behind me.

“I’m not so sure. He abandoned his roots once. There’s a good chance he’ll do it again,” he tells Walker.

That may be true, but I was trying to outrun the legacy my parents created back then. Now that I have a support system who genuinely cares about Caleb and me, the thought of saying goodbye is much harder.

Walker and Heath make themselves comfortable at the kitchen table with their coffee while eagerly waiting for breakfast. Briar shooed them out of the cooking area when they offered to help, insisting they were useless with food prep. However, once I put a shirt on, she had me washing and cutting fruit. Not that I mind—it’s the least I can do since she’s making the pancakes.

The stove’s pilot light isn’t working, and Briar hasn’t had time to fix it, so she resorted to using an electric griddle to make pancakes. On the bright side, she won’t have to deal with her appliances constantly breaking much longer. Not after she gets the surprise I’ve been planning. I’ve done extensive research to make sure it’s tailored to her tastes, and I can’t wait to see her reaction.

She’s just finished the first batch of hotcakes when Julie arrives with Caleb.

I’m at the counter slicing strawberries when they come in, and I wipe my hands on a dish towel to say hello. When I turn around, I expect Caleb to rush to Briar, but instead, he runs straight to me. My heart swells as I bend down and scoop him into my arms.

“Hey, bud, I missed you,” I say, pushing his hair back. “How was your night at the ranch house? Did any of the chicks hatch?”

He bobs his head, a smile stretching across his face.

“Caleb helped Samuel and me get the brooder boxes set up in one of the backyard sheds.” Julie brushes past us, picking up where I left off, and finishes cutting the strawberries. “We’re stillwaiting on a few to hatch, but most of the chicks should be dry and ready to move out of the incubator by tomorrow.”

“Sounds like he had a good time. Thanks again for taking him,” I say.

“Anytime. Hope you and Briar enjoyed yourselves,” Julie replies, her eyes gleaming.

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